A silver halide color photographic material generally has silver halide emulsion layers each being sensitive to the three primary colors of red, green and blue. It is typically processed by a so-called subtractive color process of reproducing a color image where the three couplers in the respective emulsion layers yield colors which are complementary to the colors to which the respective layers are sensitive. The color image obtained by processing such a silver halide color photographic material is generally composed of an azomethine dye or indoaniline dye to be formed by reaction of an aromatic primary amine color developing agent and a coupler. The color photographic image thus obtained is not always stable to light or wet heat. When it is exposed to light for a long period of time or it is stored under the condition of high temperature and high humidity, the color image is often faded or discolored so that the quality of the thus exposed or stored image is deteriorated.
Such fading and discoloration of the color images formed are fatal drawbacks for recording materials. In order to remove these drawbacks, couplers capable of forming fast color images have been developed and anti-fading agents have been employed. For the purpose of preventing deterioration of the image quality due to ultraviolet rays, ultraviolet absorbents have been used.
Anti-fading agents have had a significant effect of preventing deterioration of color images formed. Examples of anti-fading agents, which have been added to color photographic materials include hydroquinones, hindered phenols, catechols, gallates, aminophenols, hindered amines, chromanols, indanes and ethers or esters of these compounds as formed by silylating, acylating or alkylating the phenolic hydroxyl group of them, as well as metal complexes.
Although these compounds can have an effect as an anti-fading or anti-discoloring agent for color images, they are still insufficient for meeting the customers' need of desiring to have color images with higher image quality. In addition, the compounds often vary the color hue of the color images formed or would often cause fogging of the photographic materials. Further, they can not be dispersed well in the coating emulsion, and/or after the emulsion containing them has been coated on a photographic support, they often form fine crystals. Because of the reasons, the compounds are not considered practical as additives to color photographic materials.